Poll reveals anti-Semitism still rages in Poland

Survey of Polish students commissioned by Jewish community shows 44 percent would "not be happy" to have a Jewish neighbor.

Students participate in March of the living 370.
(photo credit:Yossi Zeilger )

A survey conducted in recent weeks among high school students in Warsaw, Poland,
presented disturbing results on the extent of hatred towards Jews, with a
shocking 44 percent saying they would not like to have a Jewish
neighbor.

One thousand two hundred and fifty students, aged 17-18, were
surveyed by a Homo Homini Institute of Public Opinion Research poll commissioned
by the Jewish community in Poland. Of these, 40% said they would not like to
have a Jewish classmate.

The survey found 60% of the respondents said
they would not like to have a Jewish partner, while 45% said they “would not be
happy” if they had a Jewish relative.

When asked about the Holocaust, the
Polish students did not hide their anti-Semitic opinions and showed poor
knowledge of Jewish history in Poland.

Most of the students believed that
the percentage of Jews living in Warsaw before World War II was 18%, while the
actual percentage of Warsaw’s Jews was 30%. The survey also showed that 44%
believed that “Poles and Jews suffered equally during the
Holocaust.”

Moreover, 27% said that the Jews suffered more and 24.7%
claimed that the suffering of the Poles was greater.

However, most of
students who took part in the survey, 55.8%, correctly named Mordechai
Anielewicz as the leader of the Jewish uprising.

The poll added that
68.3% knew the exact date of the uprising, while 23% thought “the uprising ended
with a victory of the rebels.”

Joanna Korzeniewska, a spokesperson for
the Jewish community of Poland, said the results of the study will “help us in
planning social and educational activities in the future. As it now turns out,
we need them even more than we thought before.”

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